they say three's a crowd
by aceoftwos
Summary: When Kozume Kenma and Kuroo Tetsurou made the decision to date Tsukishima Kei, they did not expect anything quite so permanent. But all of them admit, they're rather happy with the way things turned out.
1. day 1: pets

**note** : this was written for hqot3week (you can find out more at hq-ot3week on tumblr) back in july. it was the 17th to he 21st. and i, evidently, choose kurokentsuki bc i am very much in love w/ this pairing and it's dynamics but there's like 7 fics on ao3 and one of them is mine so. yeah. anyways.

* * *

 **day 1** : pets

in which kenma tugs on heartstrings, kuroo gets deeply offended, and tsukishima says nothing but the truth.

* * *

It's unusually quiet for a Friday night.

Kenma is gone for the evening, which means that their habitual video game tournament is postponed. Kuroo is sorting through some paperwork in the living room, sighing and grumbling as he works through it. Tsukishima is sitting on the couch, headphones plugged in and eyes closed.

Ten minutes of peaceful silence pass before the door opens slowly and shuts just a bit too loudly.

Kuroo looks up and sees Kenma standing in the doorway. Drenched from head to foot. Coat bulging. He wastes a moment being confused before scrambling towards the bathroom and returning with a towel. When he comes back Tsukishima has Kenma sitting on the couch, jacket partially opened, a cat curled in his lap.

"Is that a cat?"

Tsukishima looks up as Kuroo sits beside Kenma on the couch. He scowls in a way that doesn't quite reach his eyes and says in his best I-sound-annoyed-but-I'm-really-not voice, "What does it _look_ like?"

"Don't be mean," Kuroo chides as he starts to dry Kenma's hair, peering into his eyes. Kenma looks away, obviously disgruntled at being treated like a child. "Why do you have a cat? Aren't you supposed to be hanging out with that Hinata kid right now?"

"I found it," Kenma says flatly. Too simple an answer, as always. "I'll text Shouyou later."

"Yeah, okay. But what are you doing with the cat?"

"I found it," Kenma repeats the words slowly, as if talking to a very small child. Then he turns to stare at Kuroo wordlessly. His expression is almost perfectly bland, just a hint of hope in his eyes and the tiniest tremble of his lips. Quietly, softly, he says, "Tetsurou, can we keep it?"

There's a moment's pause before Kuroo says weakly, "We don't have the money…" Kenma just keeps staring. Kuroo looks from Kenma to the cat, his determination crumbling fast. The cat turns to Kuroo and blinks sleepily, a purr rumbling deep in its chest. Kuroo makes a quiet noise of frustration.

Without looking, Tsukishima reaches out and jabs him in the side. Kuroo screeches unattractively.

"Jesus, Tsukki! What was that for?!"

"You were about to cave and say yes."

"I was not," Kuroo argues.

"You always give Kenma what he wants."

"I do not!"

Kuroo spends the rest of the evening trying in vain to prove that he does not give Kenma everything he wants. Tsukishima spends the rest of the evening idly countering Kuroo's arguments and wondering if Yamaguchi will help them get the cat settled. Kenma spends the rest of the evening scratching their new cat behind the ears and thinking of names.

* * *

 _1\. kuroo and tsukishima are such pushovers when it comes to ppl they cares about. tsukishima thinks that no one has noticed and he's maintained his cool and aloof image. he's so fucking wrong._

 _2\. kenma almost never asks for anything. (mostly bc kuroo and tsukishima tend to do stuff before he can ask.) but whenever he asks for something, it's always something big and potentially life altering. like getting a cat. or going on this month long road trip to get to a gaming convention._

 _3\. yamaguchi knows a lot about pet care. he was briefly obsessed w/ it the summer before their last year in high school. and he does help them get the cat settled. and proceeds to make continuous excuses to come over and see the cat bc it's adorable as hell._


	2. day 2: affection

**day 2** : affection

in which tsukki is terrible at expressing affection, kenma solves a problem, and kuroo reaffirms the fact that he's completely head over heels in love.

* * *

None of them are terribly good at showing affection. Kuroo smothers, Kenma has next to no interest, and Tsukishima just plain doesn't know how. He's awkward and stilted and afraid of rejection.

Which is why, when Kenma sits down in his lap and continues playing on his handheld as if this situation was nothing out of the ordinary, Tsukishima freezes completely. He carefully leans backwards, out of Kenma's space, and takes a deep breath. After a minute or so of silence, he asks, "What are you doing?"

"Dungeon."

Kenma shifts himself and tilts the screen just a bit so Tsukishima can see better. Tsukishima takes in the pixelated figure on the screen wearing red robes and holding a blue stick of some sort. A wand, no, a sword maybe?

"I see."

For several minutes, there's a peaceful silence as Kenma's avatar hacks enemies to bits with his pixelated sword and Tsukishima watches cautiously over his shoulder. Suddenly, quietly, "It's okay. I don't bite." Kenma acts like he's said nothing, continuing to pore over his inventory in-game as he considers what objects to sell.

Tsukishima stares at the screen of Kenma's handheld, not really seeing it. Then, hesitantly, he shifts and wraps an arm around Kenma's middle. Kenma just sighs contentedly and sinks into the embrace.

And that's how Kuroo finds them, nearly an hour later, when he steps inside their apartment with grocery bags hanging from both of his arms. Immediately, Tsukishima looks up from Kenma's game and shoots him a look that quite clearly says help-me-I-have-no-idea-what-the-fuck-just-happened-and-I'm-not-sure-I-like-it.

Kuroo looks from Tsukishima's frazzled expression to Kenma's sleepy smile.

He whips out his phone and takes a picture or two. Or maybe ten.

He conveniently doesn't see Tsukishima's look of utter betrayal as he steps into the kitchen to put away the groceries. When Kuroo steps into the living room again, Tsukishima is grumbling into Kenma's shoulder and their heads are leaned together and Kuroo is about 99% sure he's going to actually die because they're so cute. He's legitimately concerned for his health.

So he does what any sane, sensible person would do in his situation.

Kuroo sits down on the couch, throws his legs across Tsukishima's and falls asleep.

* * *

 _1\. tsukishima wakes up the next morning, feeling sore all over. his arms are still around kenma and he's rather awkwardly positioned across kuroo's lap, kuroo's arm across his shoulder. it's completely too hot to be doing this but despite the discomfort, he's happy. so all he does is pull kenma a bit closer and shift ever so slightly into a more comfortable position._

 _2\. it's no surprise that kuroo almost immediately made the best picture his wallpaper._

 _3\. kenma is often the most levelheaded of the three. so when he saw there was a problem (namely that tsukishima was so terrified of fucking up that he was initiating absolutely nothing) he decided to fix it. and kuroo may have encouraged his meddling, just a bit._


	3. day 3: separation

**day 3** : separation

in which tsukishima is secretly sentimental as hell and kenma misses his boyfriends.

* * *

 **note** : in this particular au, kuroo and tsukki became middle school teachers. (idk whose idea it was to let tsukki mentor small children but w/e.)

* * *

Kenma is pretty sure that their house has never been this quiet.

He likes the silence. At least for a few days.

Until he reaches over to show Kuroo something and he isn't there. Until he turns to ask Tsukishima if he wants the radio on and is greeted by empty space. Until he accidentally cooks enough food for three people and ends up eating leftover spaghetti for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next day.

But when Kuroo call to ask how he is, Kenma just says, "I'm fine, Tetsuroo, how's Kei?"

"He's laying facedown on his bed. He keeps asking me why we let him become a teacher." There's laughter, then muffled shouting on the other end of the phone and a certain amount of indignant screeching from Kuroo. "Tsukki, wai—!"

"He's lying. I was grading tests." There's too close sound of a shirt rustling and the distant sound of Tsukishima saying, "Go for a walk or something. You can talk to him tomorrow." Kenma can clearly hear Kuroo's grumbling as he exits the room.

"Really."

"Whatever." Tsukishima's annoyed huff of breath is static against the phone. "How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Really?"

"I accidentally made dinner for three," Kenma admits. "The house is too quiet."

"I know." There's a slight pause that Kenma recognizes as Tsukishima gathering courage. "Look in my dressed drawer, third one down. It might help. It helped me when you and Kuroo went back to Tokyo that one weekend."

"Okay."

"I've got to get back to grading. We'll call tomorrow."

"Bye."

Kenma puts down his phone next to his handheld and heads for their bedroom. He looks in Tsukishima's bottom drawer and finds an MP3 and a cheap set of headphone, neatly laid out over pairs of socks and underwear. He boots it up and finds a single hour long track titled 'Breathe'.

Carefully, Kenma carries the MP3 to the bed, puts on the headphones, hits play.

Immediately, Kuroo's snoring fills Kenma's ears. It takes a moment for him to pick out Tsukishima's deep breathing, and his own muffled breath. The sound quality is terrible but Kenma already feels better. He sleeps more soundly that night than he has since they left.

* * *

 _1\. tsukishima walks in the door after they come back and sees kenma curled up on the couch craddling his mp3 and lights up like a fucking xmas tree. he has to dive and hide the mp3 in his pocket before kuroo can see it bc kuroo would blackmail him for years if he ever found out._

 _2\. kenma helps tsukishima record other things. like the sound of kuroo doing his grading. the sound of kenma cooking. kuroo's scoffing as he dissects a volleyball match on tv. the repeated pressing of buttons and tapping on a screen. and some for kenma too, like the sound of tsukishima humming out of tune as he folds laundry._

 _3\. kuroo and tsukishima were also experiencing problems during their fieldtrip. and only a tiny portion of it was related to the children they were supposed to be watching. mostly they had to do w/ the fact that they kept looking over their shoulders to see if kenma was following them, panicking when they couldn't find him, then calming down when they realized where they were. the more perceptive children were confused and slightly alarmed by this._


	4. day 4: sickness

**day 4** : sickness

in which tsukishima is sick, kenma doesn't care, and kuroo gains some valuable insight.

* * *

"Mr. Kuroo! Is Mr. Tsukishima alright?"

The girl is a first year, slightly out of breath from chasing him. Tiny with dark hair and eyes. Kuroo racks his brain for a name, but she's not in any of his classes. He vaguely recalls her being in Tsukishima's classroom at some point.

"Why ask me?"

"You're his best friend, aren't you?" Kuroo smiles to himself and thinks: _Well, I'm a little bit more than that._ "Our substitute teacher said he was sick. I thought you would know."

"I do. But why do _you_ want to know?"

"Um…" The girl shifts uncomfortably and her cheeks are slightly red. It finally clicks. This is the girl who has a crush on Tsukishima. The girl he adamantly refuses to believe has a crush on him. She clasps her hands in front of her, rubs her fingers together. "I'm… worried about him."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised."

"I know what Mr. Tsukishima is like." She looks ridiculously offended. Apparently Tsukishima's classes aren't aware of his terrible personality. Kuroo hides a grin and plasters on a pleasant smile. "In any case, he's fine. He'll probably be back to work tomorrow. Maybe the day after."

"Oh. Okay. Um. Can you give him this?" She holds out a card. "Everyone in the class signed it…"

"It would be my pleasure."

And it definitely is. Tsukishima's face steadily turns bright red as he takes in all the signatures crammed onto the paper. Almost all of his current students have signed it, plus a few he taught last year and two more from the year before that. Even Kenma looks amused.

"You sure have nice students, Tsukki."

"…Yeah."

"I don't think my students would care that much if I got sick."

"That's because you're a jerk," he hisses. Tsukishima clutches the card to his chest protectively. He keeps sneaking glances at it, like it'll disappear when he isn't looking. It's adorable.

"Oh, please. I'm _super_ nice."

"Sure," Kenma agrees as he settles in next to Tsukishima. He's already got his handheld out, game slowly loading on screen. Tsukishima looks a bit surprised, but not as shocked as he'd been a few weeks ago when their little affection campaigne had started.

"Kenma, he's sick."

"Don't care. I'll be fine."

"…If you get sick, I'm not looking after you."

"You will."

* * *

 _1\. true to kuroo's words, kenma gets sick. true to kenma's words, kuroo does look after him. bc he always does. and tsukishima hovers awkwardly in the doorway bc he has no idea how to take care of sick ppl. whenever yamaguchi or akiteru got sick, he literally threw a bottle of cold medicine at them and quietly told them to get better. (they both thought it was adorable.)_

 _2\. tsukishima actually tries to be nice to his students, but he's super awkward and they mostly find it funny. but there's also a strange desire to help him 'cause he's so obviously bad w/ ppl? so he has a lot of sympathizers. and anyone looking to make fun of him gets tripped up pretty fast._

 _3\. the girl who has a crush on tsukishima unfortunately (and not-so-coincidentally) overhears a certain convo between tsukishima and kuroo that very clearly establishes just what sort of relationship they have. she's not very surprised. she sorta guessed. and it's not like she ever rly expected much to come of it. she tells tsukishima about her feelings on graduation day (he goes completely red) and just says that she wishes him and kuroo luck. tsukishima tactfully does not mention kenma and just sincerely wishes her well._


	5. day 5: bloom

**day 5** : bloom

in which kenma refuses to freak out, kuroo does freak out (a little bit), and yamaguchi tries to be cool. tsukishima is mostly an asshole, but that's normal.

* * *

 **note** : day 5 was au of your choice, so no surprise i chose my fave soulmate au. so yes, this is technically part of the bloom series.

* * *

 **side a** : kenma and kuroo

They were bonded before either of them even knew what the word meant.

Kenma doesn't remember the moment they first touched. But he remembers everything else. The warmth of Kuroo's hand in his over the years, the comfortable silences, the quiet support given and received. He remembers the fights, the awkward heart-to-hearts, and Kuroo's nagging.

He remembers everything.

They've known each other for almost two decades and Kenma's never been as scared as he was the day Kuroo comes to him on the last day of their training camp with more flowers blossoming on his skin, mayflowers threading through patches of phlox.

"Kenma, I…"

"What happened?"

"One of Karasuno's players. You remember, the tall blond?"

"…Tsukishima."

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do?"

"You mean what are _we_ going to do." Kuroo grins and Kenma reflexively grips his neck, covering the phlox spread across his collar bone. "I have two soulmates. So what? It's not like I'm going to abandon you."

"Okay." Kenma shoves down the anxious litany of: _He's lying, he's lying, he's lying._ He allows Kuroo's words to reassure him and doesn't protest when Kuroo steps forward for a hug. The physical contact grounds him. Kenma breathes in then out, then asks, "What do we do?"

"Not sure," Kuroo admits.

"You're supposed to be better at this than I am."

"Yeah, well." There's a beat of silence. "We could talk to him."

"…Okay."

And surprisingly, Kenma is better at talking to Tsukishima than Kuroo is. (He empathizes in a way that Kuroo can't.) Less surprising, because Kuroo and Kenma are always in sync, are the tiny sprouts of olive flowers covering Tsukishima and Kenma's hands.

 **side b** : tsukishima and yamaguchi

From a very young age, Tsukishima believed himself to be broken.

He believed it as soon as it became apparent that he and Yamaguchi were not bonded, and Yamaguchi was the only one who wanted anything to do with him. Because surely something must be wrong, if the most important person in his life wasn't the one destined for him.

And he believed, right up until the moment his hand accidentally brushed Kuroo's.

"Tsukki?! Oh, fuck…"

Tsukishima stares dumbly at the flowers clinging along his wrist. It's an unusual flower, not one he's ever seen, not one whose meaning he's ever heard. He looks up to see Kuroo staring at his own hand, obviously dismayed. For a brief moment, Tsukishima feels angry. Then he notices that there are two kinds of flowers on his hand.

Tiny white blossoms that match his own and another set of pale purple flowers.

Loudly, Hinata exclaims, "You've got two soulmates!"

"I need to talk to Kenma," is Kuroo's only response. He looks up at Tsukishima and repeats, "I need to talk to Kenma. Later. We'll sort this out later. If Kenma doesn't hear this from me, he's going to freak out."

"Then go," Tsukishima snaps. Something flashes across Kuroo's expression, too fast for Tsukishima to figure out what it is. Then he grins and sprints out of the gym. Tsukishima turns, scowling, grabs Yamaguchi's arm, and heads for the opposite set of doors.

After a few minutes, Yamaguchi says, "Tsukki, slow down!" He does, fractionally. It's enough for Yamaguchi to make him stop completely. They slide to the floor next to a window. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"…I'm not sure I understand?"

"I know."

It's not that he isn't happy. He's overwhelmed. He never expected to meet his soulmate, and certainly not here. Truth be told, Tsukishima was dead certain he didn't have one. At least, until today. And his soulmate is already bonded to someone else. Go figure.

"Do you need to talk about it?"

"…Yes."

"Do you _want_ to talk about it?"

"…No."

"Do you want me to come with you when you talk to Kuroo?"

"Yes. No. It's not a good idea."

"Screw if it's a good idea. Do you want me to come?"

Tsukishima breaks out of his melancholy long enougn to smirk at Yamaguchi. "You're really taking that 'cool' thing seriously, aren't you?" He has the good grace to blush. "I'll be fine."

"I know."

And he is. He's fine. And when he finally settles into the idea, the relationship, he's more than fine. For the first time since he was a small child, he feels genuinely content with his life.

* * *

 _1\. kenma meets hinata before he meets tsukishima. and when he first touches hinata, a tiny oxeye daisy (patience) blooms on hinata's skin. kenma is immediately freaked out and searches for a matching tattoo but hinata just waves it off. he grins and explains that he's aormantic, and he gets a tattoo for all the important ppl in his life. hinata uncovers his other tattoos and points out natsu's yellow chrysanthemum (precious one) and kageyama's holly hock (ambition). kenma gradually relaxes and tentatively starts talking about himself under hinata's probing._

 _2\. ppl w/ more than one tattoo are pretty rare, but also not as rare as you might think. if you knew someone w/ more than one tattoo you might ask some questions of them about how the whole thing works, but no one rly bats an eyelash at it._

 _3\. kenma and kuroo were bonded very young, younger than most. it's uncommon to meet your soulmate before high school (most ppl meet theirs in college or thereabout) and it's terribly unusual to meet your soulmate before age ten. not unheard of, but exceedingly rare. they got stared at quite a bit. kuroo used to get pretty mad about it, since it made kenma's anxiety worse._

* * *

 **an** : kenma & kuroo is phlox (harmony), kuroo & tsukishima is mayflower (welcome), tsukishima & kenma is olive (peace) if anyone wanted to know.


End file.
